This month, everyone is encouraged to learn more about organ donations and the impact they have on thousands of Americans each year.

April is National Donate Life Month, and Pella Fire Chief Doug Van Gorkom says many Iowans and others around the nation are in dire need of potentially life-saving transplants. Van Gorkom’s wife Susan was the recipient of a double-lung transplant six years ago.

“What a difference you see in a person after they’ve had that transplant, because you just watch them go down, and the only way back up in some of those situations is an organ donation,” Van Gorkom says. “Like Susan and I have said many times daily, we think about the people that have lost a loved one because of what has happened to Susan and to many other people in that way. It’s such a blessing for us, and talking to some of those people that are donor families, a blessing to them also.”

Click here to learn more about the Iowa Donor Network and how to register to become an organ donor, and hear more about what it means to help others by giving life on the Let’s Talk Pella podcast from Tuesday’s show.